A Tribute to Thieves
by Gamma Sage
Summary: What if Phantom Thief Dark and Bakura were to meet, because Bakura recognises some Hikari artwork having connection to the Millenium Items? YGOxDNAngel xover
1. Setting the Stage

I had an idea that no one else seemed to want to do. Phantom Thief Dark and King of Thieves Bakura: just who is the better thief? This story idea seemed to have potential to go far, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

**A Tribute to Thieves **What if the Hikari clan heard about the Millennium Items and decided to create artwork as a tribute: in other words, unofficial Millennium Items? An innocent trip to Azumano for Ryou Bakura turns into a race between two thieves for magical art. YGOxDNAngel crossover

Prologue

Shiguru Hikari gazed around himself at the vast desert. Here he was in Egypt, the Valley of the Kings to be exact, to make an artwork in recognition of the ancient Pharaohs. He carried under his arm a sketchpad and a few pencils. Lately he was devoid of any inspiration to create any art for the museums back home. He had come here for a new perspective, another brilliant idea for his "family business". He was a Hikari, after all. He knew he'd come up with something amazing, as usual.

As Shiguru trudged on, he spotted the team of archaeologists that he had arrived with. Among them was an old friend of his, Peter Starks, whom was an American. Peter was born an American, but had moved to Japan in his childhood. He had gone back to America for an archaic business trip recently. Normally, one won't find a Japanese artist among American archaeologists, but Peter had invited Shiguru to come with him on the dig, despite the fact that he lived on the other side of the world. Shiguru had written to Peter about his dilemma involving his fountain of ideas running dry, and Peter suggested he come with him to see the Valley.

Shiguru ran a hand through his chin-length blue hair and took a sip from his canteen. He walked over to Peter, who looked up excited. "You have to see this!" Peter said, grinning. "We've found something you may find useable for your work. This is also pretty big for us. We've found a tomb that was buried under the sand, until now, that is."

Shiguru widened his eyes in surprise ever so slightly. "A tomb? What's in it that could be so great for my work, though?"

Peter picked up his flashlight and canteen, motioning for him to follow. He then headed over to a young man writing down notes. "John," he called.

The man, John, answered without looking up from his work. "Yeah?"

"We need another person to come into the tomb with us."

John's head snapped up. "Really! I've been wanting to go down there for a while, and at this point, I thought no one was going to let me go in!" He put down his notes and stood up. "Let's go!"

As the three walked down the hallway, Shiguru noticed the hieroglyphics on the walls and found that he was some what amazed at this tomb. _I thought that this wouldn't work for me as an artist. I guess I was wrong._ But there was something else he could tell he was going to find here too. This place was full of magical energies. Yes, he would definitely come out of this tomb with new ideas. But then he realized, _Perhaps, no, I'm sure of it, these artworks will have magical properties, and_, he frowned, _Dark will be after them._ That half of the Black Wings was such a nuisance to the Hikaris. Phantom Thief Dark always seemed to slip out of his grasp when he was a teen, and once Dark returned, the next Hikari may not be able to handle him. Dark disappears for years then comes back, so Shiguru wouldn't have another chance to get him. Shiguru frowned again at the thought.

A few minutes later, the trio walked into a large room with giant stone tablets in front and to the sides of them. John was jumping around the room like a little kid on Christmas morning, Peter was smiling with pride, and Shiguru walked around the room in amazement, looking at each tablet. "Amazing," he breathed, and pulled out his sketchbook. John pulled out his camera and began to take pictures of the walls. There were tablets depicting monsters, magicians and things Shiguru didn't understand. Peter walked up to him, still smiling. He pointed to a tablet.

"These stone slabs depict the story of an ancient war. That tablet there depicts ancient monsters that lived in the hearts of humans. These monsters, called 'ka', were summoned to do the bidding of the humans they lived in." He pointed to the next tablet. "This tablet shows the monsters being used in a war, by Priests of the Pharaoh's court, to defend the country. These Priests wielded seven magical totems that allowed them to bring forth the monsters in their hearts and in the hearts of others. Very few could summon their ka on command. They are shown on this tablet," he said, pointing to the next tablet.

Shiguru was in awe. On the stone slab were a rod, a necklace, a pair of scales, an ankh, an eye, a ring, and an upside down pyramid. He could tell that they were full of a very powerful magic. He wondered what the eye symbol on them meant. As if reading Shiguru's mind, Peter said, "These items all have on them the Eye of Horus, so we believe them to be a set. The totems were supposed to be able to extract ka, weigh hearts, see into people's minds and souls, as well as the future, seal ka, and even," he paused for dramatic tension, "summon gods. Also the Pr-" he stopped seeing Shiguru sketching for a base to use back home. "See, I told you wouldn't leave unsatisfied."

"And you were right my friend. These are amazing. When I get back to Japan I'm going to make my own Items for the museum."

Peter laughed as John took pictures of the centermost slab. "Don't expect any monsters to jump out of the shadows, then." Just then his watch beeped. Peter frowned and turned off his alarm. "Well, it's time to head back. Come on, John!" he called to his colleague.

"Just a minute," John called back. He was just finishing taking pictures of the three monsters surrounding the upside down pyramid from earlier. As he put his camera into his bag and ran to catch up to the other two, he didn't notice the ghostly image of a man in a turban and cloak holding a pair of scales with an ankh on a rope around his neck appear, frowning at the three. He then looked behind himself at the Tablet of the Nameless Pharaoh and vanished, having not been seen by the three men in the hall.

A few weeks later, Shiguru finished his works "Tribute to the Nameless Pharaoh" and the "Millennium Mask". He donated these two works to the Azumano Art Museum. Shortly after, he received some grim news. John was dead. His neighbors described the night he died as a dark and stormy one. There was much lightning, but no thunder. There was one instance when they did hear thunder, which oddly sounded more like the roar of a great and powerful beast than thunder though. Then, the next morning, when John didn't come out to see his garden, they knew something was wrong. They found him dead in his chair, holding the pictures of the three monsters on the main slab in the tomb, eyes wide in fright and mouth open. They couldn't find any evidence of his death. It was as though he was scared to death…

Almost half a century later, Maximillion Pegasus would be led to the same tomb, and create the Egyptian God Cards. Strange coincidence, huh? Or was it fate that led Peter and his team to these ruins? And what of Shiguru Hikari? For him, the story is over, but for Ryou Bakura and Daisuke Niwa, the story has just begun.

So, that's all for now. Review, and suggestions are most welcome; if you have a good idea for this story, feel free to let me know. I'm all ears.

-Gamma Sage


	2. Planning and Packing

Thanks to all who reviewed for the first chapter. I actually didn't expect to get quite so many hits this early. 38 hits in one day, wow (honestly it was 36, two times it was me just running over the story to make sure I liked how it looks)! And MariksMyra1614, you're probably thinking of Satoshi Hikari/Hiwatari (changed his last name to the second one when taken in by his dad), Daisuke's classmate that has Krad, or the White Wings, in him. He just might appear later in the story, so you'll know the difference. Shiguru is my OC, basically acting as Satoshi's grandfather.

Okay, I apparently forgot a disclaimer last chapter so here it is: DNAngel is property of Yukiru Sugisaki and Yugioh is the property of Kazuki Takahashi. Shiguru, Peter, and John are my OCs.

/Bakura to Ryou/

/Ryou to Bakura/

_/Dark to Daisuke/ _

_/Daisuke to Dark/ _

So, next chapter!

Chapter 1: Planning and Packing

"What? We're going to Azumano?" asked aloud a confused Ryou Bakura. The white-haired boy was alone in his apartment after school, holding a letter from his father that he was coming into town for a day or two on a business trip and on the twelfth, he would come by to pick him up for some father-son time. Ryou and his father rarely got to see each other anymore because of…_that. The thing around my neck,_ Ryou thought silently, remembering that it was his father who had given him the Millennium Ring in the first place. Ever since he had gotten the Millennium Ring, people around him ended up in comas or insane asylums. But it wasn't the Ring itself that bothered him; it was the spirit inside that made him want to get rid of it. This malevolent spirit was the cause of all of his friends (before meeting Yugi, that is) ending up in pewter figures for the RPG called 'Monster World'. Before meeting Yugi, he would just black out and wake up, unaware of what happened. But that was because the spirit, dubbed 'Bakura' because of his host, won every game and forced the losers to play 'Penalty Games'. But thanks to the 'Other Yugi', Bakura was stopped, for some time, at least. He returned during Duelist Kingdom, when the Other Yugi and Jonouchi fought against the Meikyu Brothers (A/N Paradox Brothers in the dub), getting him into trouble. One good example was when Bakura sliced Ryou's arm while in control for Marik's scheme shortly before the Battle City Finals. But Ryou knew that as evil as Bakura had been, he wouldn't let Ryou get killed, because without Ryou, Bakura wouldn't have a vessel to use. Ryou didn't know much about Bakura, except that he was a dark thief of sorts who wanted to take over the world. He wouldn't rest until-

/Ryou, shut up before I do something you'll regret/ Bakura said irritably in Ryou's mind. /Ra, you get off topic so easily and go into 'auto-biography mode'(a.b.m.)/

Ryou smiled to himself. A.b.m was Bakura's way of saying that Ryou was rambling on in his mind and was slowly getting more and more off topic. The spirit of the Ring didn't have any take-over-the-world-and/or-get-the-Millennium-Puzzle schemes recently; this was a fairly quiet state for the spirit. They were almost getting along… key word being 'almost'. /Sorry, Bakura/ Ryou answered back, a little uneasy. He always felt weird sharing his family name with a 3,000 year old spirit. He never understood how the Other Yugi and Yugi were so comfortable sharing a name. Then again, Yugi's alter ego wasn't a thief and a stealer of souls.

/I said cut out the 'a.b.m.'/Bakura said, rather forcefully this time. /If you need something to think about, think about your damn trip/

Ryou winced and brought his mind back to the task (or rather, letter-heh heh, bad pun) at hand. He was going to Azumano with his father. Azumano was a city famous for its amusement parks, such as one of its newer ones, called Azumano Joyland. It had all kinds of rides, including roller coasters. It had food courts with decent food. It had shops to get gifts in. It even had a haunted house and a theater. Ryou felt a little excited, because he could just tell that this was one of the places they would go to. The Domino City amusement parks, with the exception of Kaiba Land of course, were not very good in comparison.

Azumano was even more famous though for the infamous Phantom Thief Dark, an art thief who hadn't been caught since he started stealing. After a forty year absence, he had returned recently. No one knows why he disappeared, but a new pastime for teenage girls was to catch a glimpse of Dark and maybe even meet him. Ryou was curious about all of this, and hoped to learn about this guy. Plus, Bakura wanted to see if he was really all he was made out to be.

/Phantom Thief, huh? Well, my interests have been piqued. A fellow thief… either the police are lazy or this guy is good. But I'm still the best thief there is Bakura mused, smirking to himself. Back in the day I was King of Thieves, so I have reason to believe I can do anything he can do better. I still am. What a foolish mortal, thinking he's all that, with his fancy wings and all that publicity. A real thief doesn't announce his presence/

/Huh, did you say something/ Ryou asked, snapping out of his daydream of going to Joyland with his father.

/Just…ranting, for lack of a better word, about my superiority over all other thieves, including Dark/

/Oh, that guy/

/Yeah. But honestly, who wants to steal paintings and stuff when you can be out stealing magic items that can, when put together into the Tablet of the Millennium Items, can allow you to rule the world? What a pathetic excuse for a thief/

/…I don't think he knows what the Millennium Items are though/

/…Shut up. Never mind then. Anyway, shouldn't you begin packing? It's already seven/

/But Dad doesn't come until the twelfth/

/You might want to check the calendar/ As Ryou did as Bakura said, the spirit took great amusement from watching his host's reaction. Ryou's eye's widened in surprise.

/ACK! It's the eleventh today/ Ryou ran frantically around the room searching for his bags and clothing. Bakura smirked.

/Ryou, what would you do without me?... Actually, don't answer that/ Bakura stopped smirking for an instant and looked out the window. /This is going to be one lousy vacation for me. I'm going to be bored out of my mind. No Shadow Games, no Pharaoh to torment, and I'm going to get upstaged by an amateur thief. Unless…/ Bakura resumed smirking, mixed with a thoughtful expression (a thoughtful smirk…?) /Perhaps I can give Dark some competition…/

Elsewhere, Dark sneezed. Daisuke looked up from his computer.

_/Dark/ _

_/I think Risa is talking about me again. That was a loud sneeze/_

_/Uh huh. I'm going to get back to work/_

_/You do that. It's a poem for Riku, eh/ _

Daisuke blushed. /_…Yeah/_

Daisuke P.O.V.

_Hi everyone, Daisuke Niwa here. Let me bring you up to speed with what's been going on. On my fourteenth birthday, my first love letter was rejected by Risa Harada, my first crush. Now, since that day, because of my DNA, whenever I have romantic feelings, I turn into the legendary Phantom Thief Dark, my other self. Risa fell in love with him, instead of me. Satoshi Hiwatari, my classmate and friend, is trying to catch Dark as the Commander of the Azumano Police, and because he's a Hikari. Now Risa's twin sister, Riku, is my girlfriend. But Riku hates Dark because she thinks he's a pervert. Odd, isn't it? Now I'm writing her a poem. _

"Daisuke, I'm going to scout our next target, so behave while I'm gone, okay?" my mom, Emiko, asked from the hall.

"Okay Mom, I'm just doing some typing anyways. I probably won't be getting up for anything for a while," I called back.

"Your father and Grandpa are in the kitchen if you need any thing."

"Okay." I heard the door open and shut. It was then Dark spoke up in my mind.

_/…You'll write Riku a love poem, but you're afraid to hold her hand/ _

Daisuke laughed nervously. /_I guess so/ _

_/You're hopeless/ _

_/Be quiet, Dark/ _

Dark smirked.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Not much action this chapter, just things falling into place. Next chapter, Dark and

Bakura cross paths for the first time.

Until next time.

-Gamma Sage


	3. Bakura's Discovery

Just a heads up: I'm going to be switching around POVs every now and then, from 3rd person to 1st person. For example, this chapter starts off Ryou POV and becomes normal POV later. Also, thanks to those who reviewed, or even bothered to read the story for that matter. On a slightly different note, though I enjoy writing this story, I don't have much time these days to write. I'm going to shoot for at least one a month.

One more thing: nothing but the plot is mine. And those artworks Shiguru made in the prologue (momentarily forgot about those).

/Bakura to Ryou/

\Ryou to Bakura\

_/Dark to Daisuke/_

_\Daisuke to Dark\_

Ch. 2: Bakura's Discovery

Ryou POV

I heard a knock at the door. I got off my bed and grabbed my bag. _I think I know who it is!_ I thought, eager to see my father. And sure enough, he was there.

"Dad!" I said happily. He pulled me into a hug and smiled at me.

"How are you, Ryou?" he asked me.

"I'm well, Dad," I answered. He clapped his hands together.

"Well, if you have everything, let's get going." I grinned.

"Yeah!" I heard Bakura snort from the back of my head. I ignored him, as I've learned to at this point.

I was sitting in the passenger seat of the van looking out the window, a little sleepy. A fairly long car ride can do that to me. Wow, I had no idea that Azumano was almost two hours away. I looked at my dad, driving the van. My dad's a cameraman for a news station, Channel 4 Japanese News. As you may have figured out, it's broadcasted all over Japan. He goes all over the country with the news reporters. My dad's good at his job, or, so I think; I've never seen him at work. I wish I could see him doing his job as I cameraman.

My musing was interrupted as the van stopped at the hotel we were staying in, one of those 'Holiday Inn" places. They're very nice places to stay, with the big indoor pools and everything. We got out of the van and grabbed our bags. I brought my duffle bag over to the front desk as my dad checked in. Out of habit, I pulled out of its case on my pant loop (you know, those things that keep your belt in place) ran through my duel monsters deck that Bakura and I shared. He insisted I check my cards. I don't know why he asked, but I did. It's an occult deck, full of zombies, ghouls and the undead. We also have the really rare Ouija Board set in our deck. Bakura almost beat the Other Yugi using it.

Anyway, my dad spotted me looking through my cards after he was done checking in, a couple minutes later. "Ryou, let's bring our bags to our room."

"Okay." I put my cards back in the card case. My dad smiled at me.

"I see you have your cards with you." I nodded.

"Yeah. Duel Monsters is a lot of fun." Dad chuckled at this.

"Then I suppose it won't hurt to give you this." He pulled out a card in a card case. "I found this card the other day. An odd man in a white turban gave this to me while I was looking around for a gift for you. I thought you might like it." He handed it to me.

"Diabound Carnel…" I read the card's name. It was a monster that looked rather strange to me, a user of scary-looking monsters. It was all white, and it had small wings on its back. Diabound, instead of having feet, had a giant snake that was melded to its body. But the thing was, Diabound seemed oddly familiar to me, like I knew him from somewhere else…

/Ryou/ I jumped. I had forgotten about Bakura.

\Huh?\

/Don't you dare lose that card/ He sounded very serious, the most serious I've heard him in a while. /That card is going to be useful, very useful, to m-I mean, us/I decided not to question him. Last time I tried he "punished" me. I'd rather not go into details. Just the thought of what happened gives me shivers. But I knew I wasn't going to lose Diabound; after all, my dad gave me this card. I silently nodded.

\Yeah\ My dad noticed this behavior and looked at me, concerned.

"Is everything okay, Ryou?" I nodded to him.

"…Yeah."

End of Ryou P.O.V.

Bakura grinned maliciously to himself. This new card was no stranger to him at all._ Diabound Carnel, my old partner ka in ancient Egypt…hmm, things are getting interesting now. I'm going to restore my honor as a thief, and maybe show him he is not the best one around. Dark had better watch out; the Thief King Bakura has returned!_

Elsewhere…

Daisuke trudged home from the weekly art class his mother signed him up for a little disappointed. It wasn't the class that had him down; his mind was on other matters. He just couldn't get the hang of this poetry thing. The first few tries were a bust, and the following weren't any better. Daisuke sighed to himself.

_/Maybe you should have stuck with painting, hmm? At least you have _some_ talent there. You know you suck at this/_

_\... Shut up, Dark\_

_/Seriously Daisuke, I bet I can write better poetry than you if I tried and had the time/_

_\...\_

_/…Daisuke/_

_\...\_

Daisuke opened the front door and walked in, glad his mother turned off all the traps today.

"I'm home…"

"Ah, Daisuke!" Daiki, Daisuke's grandfather, looked up from the book in his hands at the table. "Your mother and To-To (A/N: forgot about her last chapter) went scouting for your next target earlier. She wanted me to tell you that you will have to work tonight and she'd fill you in on the details later." Daisuke sighed.

_I wanted to do some drawing tonight…_ "Okay, Grandpa. I'm going to my room." At his room, Daisuke dropped his bag on the floor next to the door and sat down at his desk. With jumped off his bed and onto Daisuke's shoulder.

"Kyuu…" Daisuke patted Dark's familiar on the head.

"Hey, With."

"Kyuu." With was a white rabbit-like creature that was, well, rabbit sized. With had shape shifting abilities, and was Dark's black wings. He could also turn into Daisuke and/or Dark. He was easily scared and also was deathly afraid of water.

Daisuke smiled and looked out the window. "I wonder what the Harada twins are up to right now…"

"EEEEK! RIKUUUU!" Risa Harada ran down the hall into her sister's room.

"What happened, Risa?" Riku Harada asked, getting up from her bed.

"There's a spider in the bathroom! Squish it, please!"

"Why can't you do it?"

"It's an icky spider! I don't want to touch it!"

Riku sighed. "Risa…"

"Pleeeeeeeeeease!"

Riku frowned at her twin. "Alright, alright already. Just stop whining."

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

Riku walked to the bathroom with Risa whimpering behind. _I wonder what Daisuke is up to right now…_

Daisuke suddenly felt, for some odd reason, that he wasn't sure that he wanted to know anymore.

Ryou walked down the street with his father. They were exploring at the time, and taking in the new scenery. The city reminded him of Italy, or, at least the pictures he had seen of Italy. Ryou had never been to Italy before in his life.

It was around noon when the pair stopped at a small café to grab a quick bite to eat. As Ryou was about to open the door, he was knocked down by a man and a woman chatting as they opened the door. As Ryou grunted from falling onto the ground, they looked up in surprise at him.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I should've been watching where I was going," said the woman. "I—" she stopped, spotting Ryou's father. "Oh, Lee! I didn't expect you to be here."

"I didn't expect to see you here either, Sora."

Ryou looked up at his dad. "Uh, Dad, do you know each other?"

Lee Bakura smiled. "This is Sora Akarachii, one of the news station reporters. Sometimes I act as her cameraman."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. And you're Lee's son,…Ryou, right?"

Ryou nodded. "Uh-huh."

Sora looked up as she realized that she needed to introduce her partner. "Oh, and this is Kensuke. He's going to act as a cameraman for me tonight."

Kensuke held up his hand in a sign of greeting. "'sup."

"So, what are you guys doing here? Are you here on a business trip to cover some news?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah. We've received information that Dark is going to be stealing some artwork soon and we were assigned to catch it on tape."

Bakura, inside of Ryou's head, perked up and began paying attention to the conversation at the mention of Dark. "Dark?" Ryou asked.

"Correct. And we're here to get it on tape."

/Dark, huh? Hmmm…/ A plan began to formulate in Bakura's mind. At that time, Sora's cell phone rang. Sora picked up said cell phone.

"Hello…? Ah, yes. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Thanks for the tip, bye." She hung up. "I just got a tip that Dark is going to steal the Millennium Mask tonight at 7:00."

\Millennium Mask! Bakura, is it…? \

/No, it's not a Millennium Item. It just shares the title of one/

"I think it's weird, though, that he's going this early today. Usually he steals after dusk. We're going to head over there soon, to set up and everything. You guys should come down to the museum later. We could always use the help. Well, see you later." Sora and Kensuke walked off down the street.

Ryou's father nodded inwardly. "Well, that was a surprise." Ryou's stomach chose just then to growl. Ryou blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head, chuckling in embarrassment. "I guess this means we should go inside now." Ryou chuckled some more as they walked into the café.

Later that day, at approximately 5: 45, Ryou and his father walked around in the museum, admiring some of the artwork. The museum was packed, due to the public's last chance to see the Millennium Mask; naturally, everyone wanted to see the artwork before Dark took it. Approaching the glass case containing the mask, Ryou felt a tug on his neck. It felt like the Ring was pulling him towards the case…

Naturally, Bakura took notice of this. /Ryou/

\Huh?\

/The Millennium Ring is reacting to something/

\What? Why?\

/I don't know. Unless Shadi or Yugi is here, then there must be something with a similar magic to that which is in the Millennium Items. Let me take a look around/

\Uh…\ Ryou was hesitant, with good reason too. Rarely anything good ever came out of Bakura taking control. He pushed the thoughts from his mind. \Okay, just don't do anything that I wouldn't do/

The boy felt his control of his body slip away as it was given to an egotistical maniac thief from 3000 years ago. Bakura decided it was time to make sure he could still impersonate Ryou.

"Um, Dad," asked 'Ryou'. "Can we go see what everyone's crowding around?"

"Sure, why not?"

Bakura smirked to himself. _Heh, still got it._

\Please, pay attention…\

Bakura sighed in his mind as he made his way to the front of the crowd. He noticed that the Ring's pull became stronger as he got closer. _Hmm, this is interesting…_

\Bakura?\

/I think I've found what's making the Ring act up like this. It's the piece of artwork before me/

\You mean when I thought the Millennium Mask was an Item…\

/You weren't far from the truth, my dear host/

\So, what're we going to do about it?\

/Well…/

"Okay, everyone back it up! We need to prepare for Dark's arrival tonight! We won't let him escape tonight!" Bakura was interrupted as policemen began filing in to set up traps to stop Dark from escaping. Ryou took this time to regain control. The crowd dissipated as Inspector Saehara directed his men where to place traps. There was an odd blue-haired boy with glasses standing in the corner. Ryou thought he looked very mature for his guessed age. He didn't look that much older than Ryou if you ignored what his face looked like. He looked up and Ryou looked away in embarrassment.

"Ryou, time to go," said his father. Ryou and Lee walked out of the museum, conversing about the art they had seen. As they head to the car, Ryou and Bakura were having a mental conversation.

\How is something that is not one of the Millennium Items so like one?\

/There's obviously some connection in that Mask to the Items. We know it has magical properties that are not unlike those of the Items, so maybe that's why the Ring reacted to it. Who'd you say it was made by again/

\Shiguru Hikari created it. I heard that Dark steals almost only artworks made by the Hikari family\

/Oh yes, _him_. I had a feeling he was part of this conspiracy/

\We don't even know that this _is_ a conspiracy, Bakura!\

/Well, it makes me feel better thinking that once we become part of it/

\What do you mean?\

/What time is it/ Ryou checked his watch.

\About 4:30\

/Hmm, then the news reporters are going to be setting up the cameras now… I AM going to make that mask mine, and I'm going to do it without arousing suspicion/

\What?\

/I think it's time for me to 'pay rent' again/

\What? No, please don't\

/Sleep, host. Sleep…/

\Huh! No, NO! DON'T!\ But it was too late. Bakura was in control and Ryou's consciousness was sealed away for the duration of his 'rest'. Bakura grinned evilly to himself.

_Time to execute my brilliant plan. That mask will be mine. This isn't about Dark alone anymore, or my pride. If I can unlock that mask's hidden capabilities, maybe I won't need to wait to open the Dark Door… heh, heh…_

"Dark! You need to leave soon! Are you finished getting into your costume?"

"Yes, Emiko, I'm ready." Dark walked out of Daisuke's room wearing a sleeveless muscle shirt with lots of leather belts tied around his waist as well as black pants. He was wearing a long black trench coat over this 'not unlike Yugi' attire and carried With in his hands, for when he would need his wings or a body double.

Dark walked outside and patted With on the head to turn him into his wings. As he flew over to the museum holding his target, Daisuke was talking to Dark in their head.

_\Dark, what's our target for tonight?\_

_/We're going to steal the Millennium Mask. It's a slight contrast from the other Hikari Artworks we've taken so far. In terms of it's magic, I mean/ _

_\How so?\_

_/It's magic felt…darker, for a lack of a better term when we examined it today. Not like me, though/_

_\I didn't think so\_ Little did they know, another dark entity was out to get the mask, and his name was Bakura…

Kensuke was walking back to his news van to get his coffee mug when he heard footsteps coming from the shadows in the alley.

"Hello?" he asked into the alley, a little anxious.

"PENALTY GAME!" Golden light began pouring from the alley.

"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!" Kensuke crumpled to the ground.

Bakura smirked and held up the previously blank card-it now had an illustration of the man on it. _So far, so good._ The cameraman was guaranteed to be out as long as he had is soul. There would be no father to get in the way if he had to fill in for this man in his duties. _Now, to make sure 'Dad' gets to work…_

A few minutes later, Sora was impatiently tapping her foot. Kensuke should've been back by now, but wasn't. Where was he?

She turned to find Lee and his son bringing Kensuke over to her. It seemed he was out cold. The boy looked up.

"I found him lying in the street like this on our way over. I got my dad to help me bring him over. I think… he's in a coma." Sora was in shock. "We already called 911 to meet us over here."

"But now we can't even properly film Dark! If the boss finds out about this, it'll be our jobs! You know how strict he is." She was hit with a sudden burst of inspiration. "Lee! You can take his place filming! You're a cameraman, and we need the help."

Lee nodded. "I'm sure Kensuke would've wanted this if he was conscious."

"So you'll be filling in tonight. Okay. The camera's all set up." Lee nodded again and turned to his son.

"Ryou, you finally get to see your old man in action, sort of. I trust you to behave while I'm doing this."

"Okay," answered 'Ryou'. As Lee turned to the camera, he didn't see his boy run off in another direction.

Bakura stood outside the gates of the museum studying a card in his hand. _Just like with raiding the ka temple… _Bakura held up the card. "Come out, Diabound, my great servant!" The card shone with light as Diabound Carnel emerged from its paper prison. Bakura looked up at his monster. "Diabound, use your shadow camouflage in combination with your ability to merge with the walls to get us in." Diabound silently created a circle with his tail, hiding his master from sight, and proceeded through the gate. Bakura smirked. _This will be too easy, I fear._

Risa gaped at what she had just witnessed. She had been searching for Dark like she normally did, when she spotted this white-haired boy standing at the museum's side gates, where no one was stationed. He pulled out a piece of paper—it looked like a playing card from that Duel Monsters game or something—and a monster came out. Diabount, she thought he had called it. Then it had wrapped its tail around the boy and they disappeared! She was amazed and scared by this kid and his monster. Risa decided to leave in case he came back. She was about to try to find another way in when she heard a familiar voice. "Risa!" She turned to see her twin running to her. Riku stopped in front of her. "Where have you been? I thought you were going to hurt yourself looking for that pervert Dark!"

"Well I was here and there was this boy who looked our age who made a monster appear from a card! Then they disappeared!" Riku snorted.

"Risa, we both know that's impossible! Monsters don't live in cards. That's just silly!" Risa threw her arms up into the air as if to emphasize her point.

"But I'm sure!" Riku frowned.

"You were probably just seeing things. Come on, let's go." Risa looked down in defeat.

"…okay." _But I know I saw him! Why can't you believe me?_

Dark entered the museum, ready to take another Hikari work. He had a feeling that tonight's theft would be an important one.

/_I almost hope that Commander Hiwatari is here/_

_\Satoshi? I thought you hated him\_

_/That's true, but things are too easy otherwise. No police are a match for the great Phantom Thief Dark/_

Dark and Daisuke's musings were interrupted by footsteps entering the room.

"Dark, this is one artwork you won't get." Dark smirked.

"Well, well, Commander. I was just thinking about how easy this would be if you weren't here. Oh well. Guess I get to have some fun tonight." Dark ran down the hall to the entrance to the room where the Mask was being held, Satoshi on his trail. Just as Dark entered the room, Satoshi tackled Dark to the floor, gritting his teeth. Dark was pinned down.

"Dark, you won't get away this time!" said Satoshi through his teeth.

"We'll see." Dark struggled to no avail. He was stuck down. Then, something weird happened. They heard dark chuckling coming from seemingly nowhere. Dark stopped his struggling momentarily to pay attention to the voice. _What the hell!_ "Hiwatari, is this one of your tricks!" Satoshi looked up and around.

"Who's there!" The voice was now laughing maliciously. The voice spoke.

"So this is the level of ability of the great Phantom Thief Dark…how pathetic." Dark growled softly. The glass around the case containing the Mask shattered. Satoshi's eyes widened with realization. _He's after the Mask! _A disembodied hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed the Mask. "I am making this Millennium Mask mine." A white haired boy materialized out of nowhere. He had an evil grin on his face. "I'm reclaiming my throne as the King of Thieves." Bakura smirked, playing with the Mask. "And you can't stop me."

Okay, it took me a while, but here it is! Since it's longer, I hope it was worth the wait. I have an idea already for the next chapter, so I'll get to work on it ASAP. Just a couple other things:

Ryou's father actually owns the Domino Museum, but I twisted it (his occupation) to fit with the plot.

Risa, after vol. 10, is told not to chase after Dark by Dark on a date, but for the sake of the story she will continue to chase him.

Well, that's all for now.

-Gamma Sage


	4. The First Artwork

I was having some writing issues coming into this chapter. I knew what I wanted to do with it, but I was struggling with getting it down onto a document while balancing other tasks that needed to be done. Anyways, it's a bit shorter than the last chapter, but here it is.

Maybe three things before the chapter: Special thanks to Lionessmon who was the only one who reviewed last chapter (what, did I screw up with it or something?). Next would be an explanation of what some of the references Bakura made in the last chapter were. He is referring to events that take place in the Memory World arc, like opening the door to the afterlife to resurrect Zorc. Lastly, this is where I'd put the disclaimer, but you all know the drill by now.

Ch. 3 First Conflict

Dark and Satoshi could only stare as this white-haired boy (who was a little creepy to say the least) juggled the mask around in his hands while grinning arrogantly. Dark, under Satoshi's grip (A/N remember, Satoshi has Dark pinned down) grimaced at this sight. Who was this kid? And just what made him think he was better than the Great Phantom Thief Dark? But there was no doubt about it. _This boy is one very skilled in magic, a magic akin to that I sensed in the Mask._

_\Dark, who is that?\_

_/I'm not sure, but he has some connection with this Mask/_

_\Is he the artwork's "soul", like with the Toki no Byoushin, or Argentine?\_

_/It's very possible, Daisuke/_

Meanwhile, Satoshi was having an inner turmoil. On one hand, he had Dark finally captured and ready to be handed over into the jail; on the other hand, there was some kid here who, he could tell, was extraordinarily strong in the magic department about to get away with his family's artwork that he had been trusted to guard. While capturing Dark was a top priority, protecting this artwork was also up there. What should he do?

Satoshi finally broke the silence. "Who are you and what do you want?!" The boy smirked, holding the Mask still.

"You may call me Bakura, King of Thieves." He took a mock bow. "And as for what I want…" he held up the Mask. "Isn't it obvious?" It was then that a lone guard ran over, having heard the glass case break (A/N last chapter).

"Commander, I—"

"Chain Energy!"

"mmmph!" The guard fell over, bound and gagged by yellow rings of energy. Bakura was holding up a glowing card in his free hand. Bakura looked at the guard, mildly surprised and amused.

"Annoying little pests, these guards are. And here I thought I got all of them already. Guess not." Satoshi looked around. He hadn't noticed it before, but there _weren't_ any guards in sight. This kid could become a problem.

Dark noticed Satoshi's lack of attention and the fact that his grip had weakened, and decided the time to act was now. He rolled Satoshi off his back and into the broken glass and jumped up, ready to get his target. He had a reputation to keep as the Greatest Thief alive! (A/N Greatest Thief _alive_, maybe…)

Satoshi grunted as he hit the edge of the remains of the glass case and slowly got up. It appeared his only option was to try and recover the Mask, and hope he captured Dark and Bakura in the process.

Bakura started to run towards the exit, chuckling like the madman the Other Yugi always accused him of being. Dark growled softly and took off after him, catching up after about a half a minute. It was then Dark tripped Bakura, causing him to accidentally drop the Mask. As Dark swept down to grab the Mask, he was hit out of the way by an invisible force. Bakura got up, still grinning.

"Let's not take any chances! Diabound, destroy him! But not a scratch on the Mask!" A light began gathering in one place above Dark, near the ceiling. Dark looked up and it disappeared. Then the light erupted charging at him with a deafening roar. Dark tried to grab the Mask and jump out of the way, but missed the Mask and couldn't completely avoid the blast's radius.

"Ahhh!" Dark shouted in pain as the light skimmed his arm and the area around his ankle. Before the darkness settled in again, Dark thought he saw some kind of huge monster illuminated by the blast. But it was gone just as soon as it appeared.

_\Dark! Are you okay!?\_

_/Ow, that stung. I'll be okay, though/_

_\What was that? I thought I saw some sort of big monster on the ceiling..._(A/N Seeing as Daisuke and Dark share a body, they should be able to see through each other's eyes even when not in control)\

_/You saw it too, Daisuke?/_

_\Yup. Was that "Diabound"?\_

_/I think so. But now I think we can conclude that Bakura is a separate entity than that of the Mask. He wants to steal it. I don't think the Mask would want to steal itself/_

_\Point taken. So what should we do?\_

_/We may have to use magic, so be prepared to feel tired tonight/_

_\Alright\_

As Dark looked around warily, Satoshi pressed a button on a small remote control from his pocket and began to make his way over to the fight. Steel bars slid over all of the windows and entryways. Dark and Bakura took notice of this and Bakura glared at him, but not as an attack, but more as directions for another, it seemed. As Satoshi limped over to the two thieves an invisible force constricted him, choking him and crushing him. He grunted again, slowly loosing consciousness. "D-Dark…" _Damn it…_

After Satoshi lost consciousness, Diabound released him and returned to the shadows (not that he was visible anyways). Dark made another grab for the Mask while Bakura was distracted, actually picking it up this time and running towards the window of the room. Bakura saw this and ran after him, summoning another monster on his way. "Headless Knight! Cut him down!" The floating suit of armor appeared in front of Dark and slashed at him. Dark slid under the sword's path and the knight and was almost at the window when Diabound swatted him down with his tail. Dark swore under his breath. Bakura frowned. "This is taking too long. Chain Energy!" Just as he had seen what happened to the guard, Dark too was now bound by rings of light. He lost his balance and fell to the floor, dropping the Mask in a similar fashion to how Bakura dropped it earlier.

Bakura also began to head for his prize, arrogant and confident that he had won. "Well, well, well. Look at the Great Kaitou Dark now." Bakura gave one of his trademark arrogant grins as he looked down at the thief who thought he was the best of the two. "Well, I suppose it's time for me to go. My, that was fun." He laughed evilly. He picked up the Mask and began to walk away. "We should do this again sometime… or that's what I would say, but you weren't as much competition as I thought you would be. Maybe I should let you play a Penalty Game, seeing as you lost in our little unofficial contest to see who the better thief is, but that's not what I'm going to do. I can only use so many Penalty Games before wanting to do something new. How about I allow you to play with my Headless Knight for a little while? That's all the time he's going to need to kill you." Bakura began to walk off. "Have fun!"

"Hey! Come back here!"

Bakura laughed maniacally before melding into the shadows once more. The knight got into position to strike Dark as the chains of energy dissipated. Dark quickly got to his feet and jumped to the side as the blade came crashing down on the spot where Dark had been a moment ago. Dark jumped behind it and took a jab at the knight's backside. Dark was not thinking clearly when he struck; he apparently forgot that hitting rigid metal objects hurts. "Ack!" _Damn it, I have no other choice._ Dark began mumbling a sealing spell under his breath to deal with this nuisance. Beams of light began to erupt from the armored being in front of him as the knight turned into a ball of light that was zapped away somewhere. Now that the knight had been dealt with and Dark was Mask less, there was only one thing to say: "Who the hell _was_ that guy?!"

-----------------------------------------

Bakura ran out of the museum, the Mask hidden by cloaking magic. His pocket began to glow as Headless Knight returned to its card. Bakura stopped for a second, understanding that this had not been done by his hand; Dark had beaten the knight using _magic_. "He smirked, looking towards the museum. "Well, Dark, it seems I've underestimated you. I still won in the end, though. I look forward to beating you to your prize again." He returned to where Ryou's father was filming. A glass window broke in the museum and Sora looked up, pointing at the shattered remains, to be precise she was pointing at what—who really—was emerging.

"…and there's Dark now! We can spot his wings from here! It's not clear if Dark has the Mask or not, but he's definitely leaving to wherever it is he goes. It seems he got away again. This is Sora Akarachii, reporting for Channel 4 Japanese News." Ryou's father turned off the camera, smiling slightly.

"That went fairly well." Sora nodded in agreement.

"Now we should probably go check on Kensuke. I hope he's okay."

----------------------------------------------

Satoshi got up from where he had been knocked out, blinking to get his eyes into focus. He had a terrible headache and was rubbing his head to try to soothe it. The guards were running around, looking for clues. One of the guards ran over, seeing that he was awake.

"Commander, are you okay?" Satoshi dusted himself off before standing up.

"I'm fine. What time is it?" The guard checked his watch.

"It's ten." Satoshi frowned. _I was unconscious for a few hours…_

"And of Dark?" The guard shook his head.

"He got away, sir." Satoshi frowned. _Dark, will I ever catch you…? _Inspector Saehara ran up to him, seeing he was awake.

"My God Commander, what happened here?!" He asked, motioning to the broken glass and the dents on the floor, not to mention the small crater in the floor (from Diabound's attack on Dark). Satoshi paused before answering.

"…I'm not sure, but I think Dark was behind it." He figured it was best not to get everyone confused and everything about Bakura. Satoshi would probably run into him again, he felt. He would deal with him then.

"Damn you Dark! You and your tricks!" Saehara shouted at the ceiling. Satoshi decided that he had had enough, and went to do some research on the artwork stolen.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"…and that's what happened." Dark was currently retelling the story of what occurred at the museum that night as To-to bandaged his arm and ankle. The Niwa family was in the living room, sitting on the couches. Daiki rubbed his beard thoughtfully.

"This is unheard of. I don't think there's ever been a thief that's tried to compete with Dark, let alone take the artwork he was going to steal," mused Daiki.

"We should get that mask before he does anything with it," said Emiko.

"What does Daisuke have to say about this?" questioned Kosuke thoughtfully.

"Actually he's sound asleep right now. Magic is just too much of a strain on him." Kosuke got up from the couch.

"I'm going to research this Mask's origins to see if we can figure out what happened tonight." He left to find a catalog of Hikari artwork.

-----------------------------------------

In the waiting room of the hospital, Ryou was having a mental argument with Bakura. Ryou's father watched, slightly amused and slightly worried for his son, who was twisting his face into several different expressions every few minutes or so.

\You did WHAT?!\

/I gave a man a Penalty Game, stole a very valuable piece of artwork containing magic, bested Dark in a race to said artwork, and probably took Dark's ego down a notch/ Bakura answered proudly.

\But you stole! I don't want to deal with the police\

/You won't have to. They have no leads on us/

\You sure?\

/I'm never wrong about something like this/

\But why'd you give Kensuke a Penalty Game? He didn't do anything\ Bakura gave a mental shrug.

/Well, you wanted to see your dad at work and I needed to get him out of our way, in case he noticed we were gone. Making your dad be the cameraman kept him busy while I went in. Just covering the bases by letting you see your father doing his job, sort of/ Ryou sighed in defeat. He knew he wasn't going to get anything out of this one.

\Uh, okay, I guess. Let's just drop it for now. Can you at least restore Kensuke's soul now?\

/Sure, whatever/ Bakura was on the outside once more. Knowing that someone would notice if he took the card out of his pocket, he tapped the pocket with the card containing Kensuke's soul to release it. After this was done, they switched back like nothing had happened. /Done. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap/ And that was all Ryou heard from Bakura for the rest of the night. Thus ended the first day.

Okay, references:

Toki no Byoushin-this is a Hikari work that has the power to freeze or end the 'time'

(life) of someone. See DNAngel vol.6-8 for the arc containing it.

Argentine- honestly, we don't know much about it except it was to have been

already destroyed. See DNAngel vol.10 and on (I don't know how

long the arc will last) for details.

Anyways, I've been caught up in other tasks during what is usually my writing time, which is why this took a few extra weeks. Also, I finally realized I had the anonymous reviews disabled, so you can review anonymously now.

As for the story, I've split it up into three of four parts: initial encounter, some almost filler type stuff, the second artwork, and final part. I have some of it figured out, but I'm going to take some time to plan it all out in advance and maybe fix up what's already been written. Suggestions are welcome, encouraged even.

-Gamma Sage


End file.
